OELP Reflections (Isaac)

OELP Reflections:

1. Why did you choose to go on this trip? What decisions were made when you chose to go on this trip? What do you hope to learn from this trip?

I went on this trip because I felt that it was a once in a lifetime experience and also to learn. It would also be a great time to bond with the class and to make new friends in China. This is a chance that this class will never get again and so I decided for all those factors, to go. It will be a once in a lifetime experience as next year this 2F will not be the same anymore and this is the only chance given to us, this will be a great piece of memory of the class for us to keep. Firstly to bond as a class, this 2F will not ever get another opportunity to go on an overseas trip as a class ever trip, this trip will make us be more independent without our parents and we will be going through thick and thin for 8 days as a class, and I believe this is why we would feel more bonded as a class. I would feel more bonded with my classmates as whatever we do, we do it as a class and whenever I have a probably, my parents will not be there, and the only people I could seek help from is my parents and mostly friends. Secondly making new friends, friendship this is something money cannot buy, this new friends will be someone I will know for life, going to this OELP means I would be paired up with a student there, and I could learn about their tough education system and the way of life of general Chinese people. This school exchange is something that a normal trip to China cannot provide, only a school based trip will allow me to have a chance to sit in their classrooms to listen to their lessons. Thirdly and lastly, to learn, personally I do not appreciate my Chinese background a lot, because of things people associate it with, like being naturally good at Chinese, which I am not good in. Going on this trip will help discover my roots, learn more about my ancestor and know the culture and the way of living of my Chinese ancestors. This could be done through visit to the villages and museums. This could broaden my knowledge about Chinese culture and way of living, we can also compare it to how we are living and appreciate it better or learn how to do thing better. We could also find how two groups of Chinese both from the same roots, yet become so different through the visits to various Iocations on the trip. This could help me as a Chinese, I would appreciate my background more, also I could share the knowledge that I gained to my fellow Chinese friends. I could also learn to become a more independent person and not to rely on my parents. When I decided to go on this trip, I decided to study harder for my Chinese to allow me to communicate better with the people there.

2. What is one situation you come across that you feel strongly about? What is one person that you had seen that taught you more than what could be achieved in class? What is one fact that you had learnt during this trip that impacted you the most?

I felt that our tour guide throughout the whole trip taught us a lot and none of it could be achieved in class, particularly the Chinese word for filial piety which is'孝'. When we were at the Hongcun Village we went into this old building was the word '孝' written on a board hung high up. Through our tour guide we learnt that by slicing the word in half, we can see towards the left is a filial man kneeling down, and on the right is a monkey kicking and punching, which is to say if we are not filial like the man on the left, we will just be like the monkey on the left, telling us if we are not filial we are no different from a beast such as the monkey. Chinese characters are truly a work of art derive such things from just a simple word and despite being told by many in Singapore that Chinese characters are works of art, it is nothing like seeing it firsthand. And the ancient people could. It also shows how important the Chinese people viewed being filial and respecting elderly and parents; this is a stark comparison from the western culture we are used to, where parents are treated a lot like friends. Although this western culture may allow for ease of communication and we can share more as we have a much smaller gap, we might forget ourselves and treat them rudely, when in fact they are our parents, the one who brought is to this world and gave us everything. This also made me missed my parents a lot as through this word and what the tour guide was saying, we could easily relate this back to our parents in Singapore who probably are caring for us while we are having fun in China. Having gone for a few days without our parents we will truly understand how important they are and when we get back to Singapore, I will definitely give them the respect they deserved. This is definitely one of the things that have impacted me the most, and I feel that this will not be something we could learn in Singapore as learning about filial piety at that place is a totally different experience from seeing it as an image back in Singapore. Also throughout the trip, our tour guide was the one explaining everything to us, the amount and type of things he had taught is something we cannot learn back in a classroom in Singapore.

3. How would this trip affect your future behaviors and attitudes? What are some long term changes you hope will take place? What did you learn in this trip that you can bring back to Singapore?

I will definitely study harder like how the Chinese students in China do. To them study is very important and they appreciate the chance to study a lot, especially being  put in a good schools having to pay such expensive school fees. Their usual school dismissal time is 5pm, yet they can study by themselves up to very late at night.  Even their attitudes in class, they copied notes without being told to and simple things like sitting straight or not to hug our bags, they could perform very well. The teachers did not need to take care of this little things and could teach more in the given time. Being Singaporean our school fees are heavily subsidized and cheap, but yet instead of being grateful, I feel that we take that for granted. Although people may say being in a good school like RV is tough, we are nothing compared to our counterpart in China. Also I find that people there are satisfied and appreciate what they have. They may not have the newest of phone or the best of anything, yet I find them satisfied, they also appreciate what they have, through things like cleaning classrooms and their own school toilets without the teachers saying it. Unlike Singaporean students who may want the latest gadgets, bags and stationery. Striving high and being satisfied is two different things, you could aim high yet be satisfied with your current conditions. Our counterpart in China could study harder with lesser things yet why do Singaporeans with so much more and access to so much more resources complain so much more. I find their positive attitudes towards studying very admirable and this will definitely affect how I will view studying in the future. I also admire Chinese people for their patriotism, when we went there, the performances on that day was all about their for their country, I guess it was the main theme for the competition but you could tell from a young age the Chinese people have been taught to love their nation which has given them everything they have now. This is also something Singaporeans could learn too, according to a survey by Mindshare more than half of the people who took it would migrate away from Singaporean if given the chance. To many, Singapore may have a tough education system and the government restricts a lot of things but isn't it this laws and this tough education system what made us so successful and safe? Many Singaporeans are using Singaporean as a place to earn their money and will migrate elsewhere, they do not have the feeling of giving back to this nations and this is why I say we could learn from the Chinese people and how patriotic they are. As the Chinese saying goes, 饮水思源, which means when one drinks water, one must not forget where it comes from; be unforgetful of those who fought to make the present possible for us. This is the country which made it possible to have such comfortable life and we should learn to give back. I learnt to be more appreciative of what this nation given us.